JoAnne Elise (Wilson Fink) Wood

JoAnne Elise (Wilson Fink) Wood, 73, of Swansboro, suddenly and unexpectedly passed away, Friday, November 1, 2019, at Carteret Health Care in Morehead City, NC.

A memorial service will be held at 9 a.m. on Thursday, November 7, 2019, at Queens Creek United Methodist Church in Hubert.

She was born on February 23, 1946 in Columbus, Ohio.

While living in many areas of Ohio, she was a hard-working single mother of three, praised for her diligent work ethics and compassion for helping others. She seeked out new and challenging adventures with ease and reinvented herself without reservation. Among her many career paths, she was a bookkeeper, realtor, a certified payroll professional, she owned a record store, a coffee shop and a business consulting company. She managed large and small accounting departments for numerous businesses and was known for her passion to help small business owners succeed. She had also worked as a counselor for the Salvation Army.

At the age of 60, she felt she had found her true passion when she became a Licensed Practical Nurse, starting at the Cleveland Clinic working with a Spinal Cord Injury Unit. She went on to work for this type of unit and others, helping veterans through the Veterans Administration in Miami, Florida, Oakland, California and Beaufort, South Carolina.

As her family proudly watched, at the age of 70, she graduated from the University of South Carolina Beaufort with her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree in 2016. She worked as a Registered Nurse in many places as a traveling nurse up to the time of her passing.

She has always expressed her appreciation of the many friendships she has developed through her nursing career and before. She was mystically good at helping others by giving them reasons to hope, to smile in the face of odds and to never acknowledge the word “impossible.”

She loved to travel, even by herself, and would try any new food at least once. She had a life-long hobby of knitting, as many recipients can attest, she crocheted too. Her bucket list was incomplete, so please remember her fondly if you ever go to Spain or Elton John’s final tour.

One of her favorite sayings was, “Redheads are sunshine mixed with a little hurricane.”

She is survived by her three children, daughters, Penelope Roush and husband Joseph Roush of Canal Winchester, OH and Cheryl Ryerson of Swansboro, NC; son, Michael Fink of Spartanburg, SC; and grandchildren, Wyatt, Erin, Emily, Joseph, Mitchell, Alexandria, and Corbin. She is also survived by a large extended family and so many cherished friendships from so many places.

Family and friends are welcome to submit online condolences at www.mundenfuneralhome.net

Arrangements by Munden Funeral Home and Crematory in Morehead City, NC.